Originally posted by SpecialK I rarely chimp in the camera, unless I shoot my foot or something.
Depends on what you shoot. For various types of photo it is absolutely essential, especially when the final picture will be highly cropped. It is also the only way to confirm that you have got good focus.
I used to find it extremely useful on the K-r when shooting night time photos with long lenses to find the optimum focus point and also for astrophotography.
The K-30 and K-3 still have a way of comparing but it is somewhat limited - you can flip between photos with the front dial and the zoom level maintained. This is helpful but somewhat limited compared to the K-r's side by side comparison because:
1. You can only compare a photo with the next or previous in one step, so you cannot select a candidate and compare to several others - you have to 'remember' what the candidate looks like and then scroll back or forward a few pictures to compare with other pictures.
2. Although it maintains the zoom level it does not maintain pan, or rather it does not allow to compare features that are offset between one photo and another.
I have found it a considerable handicap but I had already got used to this handicap with the K-30 so I did not feel the impact that much by not having it on the K-3.